The U.S. Olympic Swim Trials began today at CenturyLink Center in Omaha, and over 1,700 entrants are competing "for fewer than 60 berths" on the U.S. squad that will compete in Rio. The 14,000-seat arena, "in which two temporary 50-meter pools have been erected, is sold out every day, morning and evening, for the first time" since the trials moved there in '08. There are "larger-than-life likenesses of the top Americans," including Katie Ledecky, on the "outside of the arena." Ledecky said, "It’s just amazing how USA Swimming does a great job of making things bigger and better than the last time, and I’m happy to be a part of it" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/25).
Ledecky is the "face of these Trials," but she "remains an amateur without TV commercial endorsements." She often "ducks the spotlight," but will be the "supernova of this star-studded event, a central figure in NBC’s coverage this week" and in Rio (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, 6/26). The trials "have grown into a massive, pyrotechnic spectacle" that is known as the "Super Bowl of Swimming" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/26).
